Enough With the Tattoos

This guy makes me really sad.

When it first showed up, the tattoo craze was different, to say the least. People who got them could be seen as creative trendsetters embracing their individuality and wearing it front and center. Still, I never wanted one and told my high-school-aged son that if he got one we would change all the locks on the house and he'd have to seek other accommodations -- although we did allow blue hair and red spikes. Just nothing permanent he might regret later. 

That teenager is now 37 and from to time has thanked us for the No-Tat rule of his youth, which accounts for him being one of the few people today actually showcasing their individuality. 

Tattoos are literally everywhere, and seemingly on everyone regardless of age and station in life. Muscular young men, pot-bellied old farts, teenagers, middle-aged Moms, golf buddies with Dad-bods and wizened Gramps and Grannies all seem to have succumbed to the craze at one time or another, presumably in a weak moment or high on something. (Ex-Navy men who are now aging bikers on Harley-Davidsons are another story.)

I know we're supposed to think they're cool, but whenever I see a person who has spent so much money and time to be in lock-step with everyone else I think, "How sad." And the more tattoos they have, the sadder I feel.

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